CANADIAN MARITIMES 2016 19 June - 17 August 2016 SMART Canadian Maritimes Caravan 2016 19 June - 17 August 2016 Wagon Masters: Carl and Gwen Hopper Assistant Wagon Masters: Mark and Linda Avey The 2016 Canadian Maritimes Caravan started and ended in Hermon, Maine, and covered over 3,000 miles in the Maritime Provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, and Prince Edward Island. We started the trip with 19 rigs but unfortunately lost one in Monc- ton, New Brunswick ,due to an accident. No one was seriously injured, but we had to continue on with only 18 rigs. Some of the highlights of this trip included the Bay of Fundy with 25-foot tides, the Royal Nova Scotia International Tattoo, rides on the Bluenose II and Amoeba sailing vessels, whale watching tours, and some of the most beautiful and breathtaking scenery in the world. Some of our group even took a day trip to Labrador, while others sailed out of St. Anthony, Newfoundland, to view icebergs and whales. We enjoyed many caravan-sponsored dinners with lots of lobster and other seafood. This was an amazing trip which was made even more enjoyable by the outstanding people who traveled with us. Many thanks to all who contributed time and effort to make this a truly memorable trip. Carl & Gwen Hopper and Linda & Mark Avey 2 3 Itinerary leg dates city state/province campground 1 June 19-20 Hermon Maine Pumpkin Patch 2 June 21-23 St John New Brunswick Rockwood Park 3 June 24-26 Hopewell Cape Ponderosa Pines 4 June 27-July 1 Hammonds Plains Nova Scotia Woodhaven 5 July 2-4 Grand Pré & Parker’s Cove Cove Oceanfront 6 July 5-7 Lunenburg Little Lake 7 July 8 Glenholme Elm River 8 July 9-10 Havre Boucher Hyclass 9 July 11-14 Baddeck Baddeck Cabot Trail 10 July 15-16 Little Bras d’Or Arm of Gold 11 July 17 North Sydney North Sydney Terminal 12 July 17-18 Gulf of St Lawrence Overnight ferry to Atlantic Ocean Newfoundland 13 July 18 Argentia Newfoundland Argentia Terminal 14 July 18-20 St John’s Pippy Park 15 July 21-22 Bonavista Paradise Farm 16 July 23-25 Lewisporte Woolfrey’s Pond 17 July 26-28 Rocky Harbour Gros Morne 18 July 29-31 St Anthony Triple Falls 19 August 1 Rocky Harbour Gros Morne 20 August 2 Doyles Station Grand Codroy 21 August 3-4 Gulf of St Lawrence Nova Scotia Day ferry to Nova Scotia Little Bras d’Or Arm of Gold 22 August 5 Glenholme Elm River 23 August 6-9 Charlottetown Prince Edward Island Charlottetown KOA 24 August 10-12 Summerside Crystal Beach 25 August 13-15 St Andrews New Brunswick Kiwanis Oceanfront 26 August 16-17 Hermon Maine Pumpkin Patch 4 Mile 0, June 18-20: Hermon, Maine and rifled cannons. This fort has been well restored and maintained by a local volunteer group, and our by Carol & Patrick Hill tour guide vividly painted a picture for us of life The phrase “The Canadian Maritimes” conjures there in the 19th century. up images of enchanting marine provinces with rugged coastlines, idyllic fishing villages, white foam rollers crashing into weathered rock faces, ancient lighthouses, friendly Canadians from a mix of cultures, and lobster suppers. When we learned that S*M*A*R*T was providing another Maritimes caravan, several of us signed up instantly, and others over the past year, so that tomorrow we are embarking on the caravan with 19 RVs. We’ve been arriving over the past week from all parts of the country to the Pumpkin Patch Campground in Hermon, Maine (near Bangor) and have been welcomed warmly by our Wagonmas- ters Carl and Gwen Hopper, and our Assistant Interior of Ft Knox Wagonmasters (Tailgunners) Mark and Linda Avey. They have been planning the caravan in minute de- Near Fort Knox, we also visited the beautiful tail for almost two years, and their hard work 2,120-foot-long Penobscot Narrows Bridge. It is one shows in the comprehensive caravan notebooks of only three cable-stayed bridges in the U.S. that they presented to us at our Welcome Dinner. (including the Zakim Bridge in Boston) to utilize a cradle system that carries the strands within the stays from bridge deck to bridge deck as a continu- ous element, eliminating anchorages in the pylons. Besides carrying US Hwy 1 across the Penobscot River, the bridge also has an observatory in it! It’s the first bridge observation tower in the US and the tallest public bridge obser- vatory in the world (420 feet), and it’s all thanks to the designing engineer’s wife, who said to him: Since it’s going to be so tall, why don’t you put an Carl welcoming the group observatory in it? After a 50-second elevator ride, For our first day of activities, we drove to nearby you can look out 360° and State Historic Site Fort Knox on the Penobscot view the bridge, the fort, Penobscot Narrows bridge River, named after the same general as is the Fort and the river. & observatory Knox in Kentucky where the gold is, Major General Henry Knox, Commander of Artillery during the It being lunchtime by then, most of us drove Revolutionary War and the first US Secretary of across the river to Crosby’s Drive-In in Bucksport to War. This was one of 42 “Third System” defensive feast on delicious lobster rolls. We spent the rest of forts conceived after the War of 1812 but not com- our time in Hermon doing last-minute errands, pleted until the Civil War, in time for them to be getting to know one another, and preparing our rendered ineffectual by the invention of iron ships vehicles to hit the road for Canada tomorrow. 5 Mile 178, June 21-23: Bangor, Maine to As it was low tide, we were able to walk on the Saint John, New Brunswick rocky beach and view the sea caves, created by physical erosion of the relentless waves on the by Lida & Jim Cook sandstone cliffs. That is, we walked until the tide June 21 was a fine traveling day, with bountiful came rushing back in – yikes! wildflowers and an occasional osprey to see as we headed east (not north!) across the border to Saint John, New Bruns- wick. In the evening the Royal Canadi- an Legion treated us to Larry Lynch, President of the Royal Sea caves, beach, tide coming in Canadian Legion branch, welcomes us a great dinner We headed back to Saint John and the City at their Hall, Market, the oldest continuing farmer’s market in where members of the Legion presented us with Canada, with a charter dating from 1785. Now it’s various pins to signify the Legion and the Province. housed in a building that was completed in 1876, The member hosts at our table, Eric and Mary, and some of the businesses in the market have were delightful and regaled us with stories of Scot- been operating there continuously for more than land and the places we would be visiting. 100 years. On June 22 we boarded the bus for our tour of Our bus made a quick stop again at the Reversing Reversing Rapids, where twice a day the Saint John Rapids, where the tide was coming in and the river River flows upstream as the tide comes in; while was now flowing upstream! we were there it was flowing downstream, like a proper river. Peter, our guide, shared a plethora of knowledge about the area. From there our bus took us to the Fundy Shore, where we had lunch at The Cove Restaurant on the beach in Saint Martins – super seafood chowder! When we arrived, the tide was out and it was quite something to see the boats sitting dry on a stand, instead of floating in water. St John River flowing upstream June 23 was a free day. Some members of the group revisited the City Market, while others toured the New Brunswick Museum or visited the zoo or the library. Others enjoyed a pint at Big Tide Brewery or a walk or drive through the expansive Rockwood Park where we are camped. This stay ended with a delicious potluck. It rained Boats waiting for the return of the tide shortly after we had all finished our evening visit. 6 Mile 284, June 24-26: Saint John to Hopewell Cape, New Brunswick by Mark & Linda Avey Leg 3 of our caravan on Friday, June 24, was a travel day from Saint John to Ponderosa Pines Campground in Hopewell Cape, New Brunswick. It was an easy drive of 107 miles with beautiful blue skies and fantastic weather. Upon our arrival at the campground, Wagon Master Carl suggested we carpool to The Hopewell Rocks Provincial Park for the high tide, which was due at 3:39pm. The Hopewell Rocks are located on Hopewell Rocks at low tide the shores of the Bay of Fundy, famous for having Paul led us all along the beach, explaining that the highest vertical tidal range in the world at 56 the tide at this location ranges between 32 and 46 feet. First we walked to a viewing platform to look feet, depending on the lunar cycle. He was very at the tide from above the rocks, then took a 700- knowledgeable and informative on all aspects of yard walk downhill through woods to see the rocks the lunar, solar and planetary gravitational effects from an observation deck lower down. on the tide.